Dream Interpretation

Dream Interpretation Tip #3

Look for metaphors and figures of speech. When literal interpretations or explanations for a dream don’t seem to fit, the next step is to look for metaphors and figures of speech within the symbols or actions of the dream. The dream about Lori can be used as an example. Let’s say I hadn’t had the trip planned and there was no real life association to the phone. The next thing I would want to do with this dream is to look at what’s going on: I’m having trouble connecting with Lori. She’s hard to reach. The dream in this context would be commenting on our relationship, using the difficulty with the phone as a metaphor for faulty communication.

Let’s take the dream the student shared about failing the exam. Had he not been in school at the time of this dream, he would instead need to look into the metaphor of taking an exam. Some questions to ask himself might include: “Where in my life am I feeling put to the test?” “How may I not be making the grade?” “In what ways am I feeling under examination?”

One of my favorite examples of a metaphor in a dream came from a woman who was somewhat troubled about an odd dream she’d had a few days before. The only thing she could remember about this particular dream was that in it she had no neck. After talking a while about what was going on in her life she suddenly exclaimed, “Every time I stick my neck out for people I get it cut off!”